Tower of Light Installed in Manchester

The final sections of Tonkin Liu’s 40-metre-high flue tower have been installed, marking a significant milestone in the Manchester Civic Quarter Heat Network. Once the Civic Quarter Heat Network project is complete, the Tower of Light will support and enclose five flues that emerge from the low-carbon Vital Energi CHP Energy Centre.

Within the immediate surrounding context of exemplar engineering projects of the 19th and 20th centuries, the Tower of Light is an exemplar 21st century structure for Manchester. It is an ultra-lightweight, vertical single surface structure whose form is its strength, using the least material to achieve the most. 

Made from tailored 6-8mm thick laser-cut sheets that are then curved and welded together to create a stiff strong surface, the biomimetic structure will support the 40m tall chimneys from the base of the new energy centre. It is the latest evolution in Shell Lace Structure, a pioneering and innovative structural technique developed through ten years of practice-based research by Tonkin Liu, in collaboration with engineers from Arup.

Minimal energy will be used to light the Tower when the lighting scheme is installed later this year. During the day, polished reflectors moving in the wind reflect sunlight into the tower’s chambers, to animate the structure with ever-changing moving light. During the night, LED lights directed at the reflectors create moving light.

The final scheme will include an undulating ceramic tiled façade called the ‘Wall of Energy’ that will consist of over 1300 handmade ceramic tiles with integrated lighting from the street  that resonates the tower’s form at the scale of a hand.